13 December 2024
Barclays Bank PLC v HMRC [2024] UKFTT 246 (TC)
On 21st March 2024, the FTT decided that Barclays Bank was not entitled to deductions totalling £800 million for corporation tax purposes in relation to an issue of capital-raising debt instruments to the governments of Qatar and Abu Dhabl at the time of the last financial crisis in 2008 despite the audited accounts showing such losses.
The main ground of the decision was that, in the FTT’s view, having heard expert accountancy evidence, the accounts were not GAAP compliant, and should not have shown the £800 million losses as such. Alternatively, even if the accounts were GAAP compliant , they did not “fairly represent” any loss , under the law as it then stood.
Barclays have applied to the UT for permission to appeal: a decision is awaited.
Kevin Prosser KC and James Henderson appeared for Barclays.
David Milne KC, Elizabeth Wilson KC, Emile Simpson and Elizabeth Atkinson appeared for HMRC.
You can find a copy of the FTT decision here.
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